Specification and Unboxing

Corsair probably doesnt need an introduction at this point. Theyve been an interesting company to watch. Theyve grown from a modest cache memory maker into a top enthusiast peripheral company. Corsairs first headset offering, the HS1, was well received when we reviewed it last year. Corsair now has expanded into everything from cases, power supplies, keyboards, mice, and of course headsets. I was rather excited to review the HS1 last year, as it was the first of their new products. Corsair have not neglected their core business of memory, though.

The HS1 was a good start, great design, comfortable, and it sounded pretty good. Of course there was room for improvement, but not much, the HS1 is still a great pair of headphones. Corsair, of course, didnt rest on their laurels, they added three more headsets, all under the Vengeance brand, the 1500, 1300, and the 1100. Corsair didnt send us the 1300, the analog-only version of the 1500, but they kindly sent us the 1500 and the 1100.

The boxes for the Vengeance 1500 and the Vengeance 1100 couldn't be more different though.

The Vengeance 1500 comes in a proper cardboard box, with a window on the side so you can see the awesomeness contained within. Never mind the picture of it on the box.

The Vengeance 1100 comes in a blister pack, which I absolutely detest, but Corsair did a nice job of making it openable without the need for leather gloves and sheers.

I tend to cut myself trying to blister packs open, but Corsair perforated the back panel for easy opening. Not a lot of blister packs do that. The other reason I don't like blister packs is that it uses plastic, which always finds it way into the garbage and not the recycle bin.

Probably the most important specification on here is the cable length. Since both are USB headsets, the impedance doesn't matter. For the Vengeance 1100 in analog mode, 32 Ohms is a pretty safe load for sound cards to drive without causing audible problems. If impedance is too low it can cause all sorts of problems for the electronics, and if it's very high, you won't get a lot of sound out of the headphones. So, there's nothing really surprising with the either Vengeance headsets. They have minor differences in sensitivity (loudness for a given volume setting), and they both use a slightly different microphone. They both support USB 1.0 and 2.0, as well as the HID audio standard (driverless audio device). The Vengeance 1500 does come with a driver to enable the surround modes, but I'll get into that later.

And a little bit more glamorous shot:

The Vengeance 1500 are fairly heavy, around 380g. They also didn't come with much else, just the fact sheet, warranty info and a whole lot of braided cable.

One thing that is curious is that there isnt a driver disc included in the box. Youll have to download the drivers for the Vengeance 1500 off of Corsairs site. The drivers are also good for the HS1, in case youre wondering.

For the Vengeance 1100, there is a little bit more to see.

The Vengeance 1100 come with a bit more kit, a USB dongle to convert from analog to USB, and a handy carry case. For the Vengeance 1100 USB dongle, it is a standard USB Audio device and any computer will have a driver to get sound out of it.

That's it for the unboxing and features. Both are no-frills products; typical of Corsair products, a lot more substance than fluff. Next page please!

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